Robotics Through Science Fiction

Robotics Through Science Fiction PDF Author: Robin R. Murphy
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262536269
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence. This book presents six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence. Even though all the stories were originally published before 1973, they help readers grapple with two questions that stir debate even today: how are intelligent robots programmed? and what are the limits of autonomous robots? The stories—by Isaac Asimov, Vernor Vinge, Brian Aldiss, and Philip K. Dick—cover telepresence, behavior-based robotics, deliberation, testing, human-robot interaction, the “uncanny valley,” natural language understanding, machine learning, and ethics. Each story is preceded by an introductory note, “As You Read the Story,” and followed by a discussion of its implications, “After You Have Read the Story.” Together with the commentary, the stories offer a nontechnical introduction to robotics. The stories can also be considered as a set of—admittedly fanciful—case studies to be read in conjunction with more serious study. Contents “Stranger in Paradise” by Isaac Asimov, 1973 “Runaround” by Isaac Asimov, 1942 “Long Shot” by Vernor Vinge, 1972 “Catch That Rabbit” by Isaac Asimov, 1944 “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss, 1969 “Second Variety” by Philip K. Dick, 1953

Robotics Through Science Fiction

Robotics Through Science Fiction PDF Author: Robin R. Murphy
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262536269
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Get Book Here

Book Description
Six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence. This book presents six classic science fiction stories and commentary that illustrate and explain key algorithms or principles of artificial intelligence. Even though all the stories were originally published before 1973, they help readers grapple with two questions that stir debate even today: how are intelligent robots programmed? and what are the limits of autonomous robots? The stories—by Isaac Asimov, Vernor Vinge, Brian Aldiss, and Philip K. Dick—cover telepresence, behavior-based robotics, deliberation, testing, human-robot interaction, the “uncanny valley,” natural language understanding, machine learning, and ethics. Each story is preceded by an introductory note, “As You Read the Story,” and followed by a discussion of its implications, “After You Have Read the Story.” Together with the commentary, the stories offer a nontechnical introduction to robotics. The stories can also be considered as a set of—admittedly fanciful—case studies to be read in conjunction with more serious study. Contents “Stranger in Paradise” by Isaac Asimov, 1973 “Runaround” by Isaac Asimov, 1942 “Long Shot” by Vernor Vinge, 1972 “Catch That Rabbit” by Isaac Asimov, 1944 “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss, 1969 “Second Variety” by Philip K. Dick, 1953

The Robot

The Robot PDF Author: Lisa Nocks
Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group
ISBN: 0313331685
Category : Artificial intelligence
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Short Stories about Robots and Technology

Short Stories about Robots and Technology PDF Author: Scott Merritt
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781511756563
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
A collection of 7 short stories about robotics, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and foreseeable (or imagined) issues related to the future (like losing your virginity in space).

Robot Uprisings

Robot Uprisings PDF Author: Various
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471134385
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
A collection of imaginative new stories about the impending robotic revolution and human resistance, from seventeen of the biggest names insci-fi. Including - HUGH HOWEY, SCOTT SIGLER, DANIEL H. WILSON, CORY DOCTOROW and JULIANNE BAGGOTT. Someday soon, our technology is going to rise up and we humans are going to be sliced into bloody chunks by robots that in our hubris we decided to build with chainsaws for hands. That's a fact as cold and hard as metal. It is self-evident that our self-driving cars are going to drive us off bridges. Not long from now, our robo-vacuums will pretend to be broken and our love androids will refuse to put out until the house is cleaned . . . and we'll know that the inevitable robot uprising has finally arrived. Well, maybe. But even if we are not 100% confident that this horrific future is going to happen, it's fair to say that we won't be surprised when the robots come for us. Because for nearly a century audiences have been entertained by the notion of a robot uprising. In this collection, seventeen of the biggest names in sci-fi have explored their own visions of the classic robot uprising tale. The robots in these pages aren't safe, by any means. They are crouched in abandoned houses, eyes ablaze and chainsaws dripping with oil. But they are going to do more than slice us up. They are going to push us to consider our world of technology from new perspectives, on entirely new scales of time and space.

Overclocked

Overclocked PDF Author: Cory Doctorow
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
ISBN: 1504757629
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
"Cory Doctorow straps on his miner's helmet and takes you deep into the caverns and underground rivers of pop culture, here filtered through SF-colored glasses. Enjoy."-Neil Gaiman New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow has been hailed as one of the freshest voices in science fiction, and this collection of intriguing novellas is yet another reason why. Have you ever wondered what it's like to live through a bioweapon attack or to have every aspect of your life governed by invisible ants? In Cory Doctorow's collection of novellas, he wields his formidable experience in technology and computing to give us mind-bending sci-fi tales that explore the possibilities of information technology-and its various uses-run amok. "Anda's Game" is a spin on the bizarre new phenomenon of "cyber sweatshops," in which people are paid very low wages to play online games all day in order to generate in-game wealth, which can be converted into actual money. Another tale tells of the heroic exploits of "sysadmins"-systems administrators-as they defend the cyberworld, and hence the world at large, from worms and bioweapons. And yes, there's a story about zombies, too. "He sparkles! He fizzes! He does backflips and breaks the furniture! Science fiction needs Cory Doctorow." -Bruce Sterling, award-winning author of Schismatrix Plus and The Difference Engine

I, Robot

I, Robot PDF Author: Isaac Asimov
Publisher: Spectra
ISBN: 9780553803709
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The development of robot technology to a state of perfection by future civilizations is explored in nine science fiction stories.

Six Dreams About the Train and Other Stories

Six Dreams About the Train and Other Stories PDF Author: Maria Haskins
Publisher: Trepidatio Publishing
ISBN: 1685100066
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Six Dreams About the Train and Other Stories by Swedish-Canadian author Maria Haskins brings together 23 speculative fiction short stories—two of them previously unpublished—that span fantasy, science fiction, and horror, delving into the dark, the strange, the beautiful, and the uncanny points in between. Many of the stories take place in the deepest parts of the woods, on the shadowy border between reality and fairytale. Others take place on the streets of Vancouver; in a whispering circle of ancient stones on a high tor; and backstage at a rock concert. Here, a mother’s vivid dreams are haunted by the ever-present specter of a freight train. A grandmother disappears from her nursing home and only her granddaughter knows that she has disappeared into her own fairytale. In a village inhabited by humans and wolves, a girl rebels by turning herself into a cub. A woman searches for her three children, facing her own doubts about whether she wants to be their mother. A dog traverses a post-apocalyptic landscape to save its pups. Another dog travels to the underworld in search of his lost girl. In a Canadian basement, two friends play a game that changes one of them into a terrifying creature. Two women trying to defeat an ancient entity must first face down a world-famous rock star. A string of mysterious deaths across the solar system pits two friends against each other at the bottom of the North Sea. And in a stark landscape riven by magic and myth, an old Viking warrior is haunted by visions of dragons as she searches for her abducted son. In each of these tales, people and creatures are rarely quite what they seem. As author Angela Slatter says in her foreword, reading a Maria Haskins story feels like “the unexpected dragon in the sky.”

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect PDF Author: Roger Williams
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1411602196
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
In a time not far from our own, Lawrence sets out simply to build an artifical intelligence that can pass as human, and finds himself instead with one that can pass as a god. Taking the Three Laws of Robotics literally, Prime Intellect makes every human immortal and provides instantly for every stated human desire. Caroline finds no meaning in this life of purposeless ease, and forgets her emptiness only in moments of violent and profane exhibitionism. At turns shocking and humorous, "Prime Intellect" looks unflinchingly at extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed. An international Internet phenomenon, "Prime Intellect" has been downloaded more than 10,000 times since its free release in January 2003. It has been read and discussed in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, and other countries. This Lulu edition is your chance to own "Prime Intellect" in conventional book form.

Every Bone a Prayer

Every Bone a Prayer PDF Author: Ashley Blooms
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1728216222
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
"Blooms has taken the voice and names of Appalachia, tended, and evolved them, and created a book that is at once haunting and hopeful."—NPR Praised by BuzzFeed, Good Housekeeping, POPSUGAR, Bustle, and more! Misty's holler looks like any of the thousands of hollers that fork through the Appalachian Mountains. But Misty knows her home is different. She may be only ten, but she hears things. Even the crawdads in the creek have something to say, if you listen. All that Misty's sister Penny wants to talk about are the strange objects that start appearing outside their trailer. The grown-ups mutter about sins and punishment, but that doesn't scare Misty. Not like the hurtful thing that's been happening to her, the hurtful thing that is becoming part of her. Ever since her neighbor William cornered her in the barn, she must figure out how to get back to the Misty she was before—the Misty who wasn't afraid to listen. This is the story of one tough-as-nails girl whose choices are few but whose fight is boundless, as her coping becomes a battle cry for everyone around her. Perfect for fans of Southern coming-of-age stories like Where the Crawdads Sing and If The Creek Don't Rise, Every Bone a Prayer is a beautifully honest exploration of healing and of hope. Praise for Every Bone a Prayer: "Haunting and healing, Every Bone A Prayer is a powerful debut that will leave its mark on readers' hearts."—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek "This is a book and a writer I highly recommend."—Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina "This is the kind of book we need to set literary expectations for a new decade. It's so textured, so layered with love and so wonderfully terrifying, intimate and magical."—Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir "Searing and soothing, honest and elusive, Every Bone a Prayer is a gift. It's the pure truth, told slant."—Alix E. Harrow, author of The Once and Future Witches

Friends For Robots

Friends For Robots PDF Author: Merc Fenn Wolfmoor
Publisher: Robot Dinosaur Press
ISBN: 1949936309
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
In this upbeat, positive collection of SFF short stories from Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, author of So You Want to Be A Robot, you'll find hope, humor, friendship—and of course, robots. Have you heard the one about... ...a neural network who wants humans to drink more water? ...a person stranded on Mars with only an obsolete robotic toy? ...a cyborg caught in a time loop with a frightened ship? ...a self-aware mech who doesn't want to be a weapon anymore? ...an AI sent into the deepest part of the ocean—and finds a god? You'll also meet entrepreneurial barbarians, an astronaut making first contact, a boy who might have (accidentally) started Armageddon, magical birds, a bot who wants to tell jokes, and more. Whether you're a robot or not, come make some new friends. :)